Manny Machado is one of the best players in baseball and is also being rumored as a potential candidate to be traded ahead of the MLB trade deadline. He has been rumored to be traded by the Baltimore Orioles since the offseason. After his hot start with the team still having a bleak future, there seem to be no other options for the Orioles other than to trade him for the best offer they can find.

At 25 years of age, Machado is going to be one of the top free agents in baseball following this season. He and Bryce Harper are projected to receive quite a bit of a pay raise. Chicago may be taking a risk by acquiring a player that will be a free agent at the end of the season, but there is a good chance that they could convince him to re-sign.

First and foremost, the Cubs are one of the top contenders in baseball. They have made it to the National League Championship Series each of the last three seasons. Chicago also still has a lot of young talent under long-term control.

Secondly, the Cubs have Albert Almora, a very close friend of Machado’s, on their roster. Almora has been open about his desire for the Cubs to bring his friend on board ahead of the trade deadline.

Machado has put together an impressive season so far in 2018, batting 0.335 to go along with 15 home runs and 44 RBI’s. Those numbers would help bolster a Cubs’ offense that has tons of talent but still has inconsistency issues. Chicago’s lineup would look scary with Machado joining talents like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez.

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Bleacher Report has put together a potential trade package that the Cubs could send the Orioles for Machado. They believe that this trade package would be the best deal that the two teams could strike.

According to the potential trade prediction, Chicago would send Addison Russell and minor-league pitchers Oscar De La Cruz and Dillon Maples for Machado. If that is the deal, Theo Epstein and the Cubs would happily pull the trigger. Baltimore would likely consider it a good enough trade as well, as they would be receiving one of the better defensive shortstops in baseball and two talented young arms.

All of that being said, there is no guarantee that Machado will end up with the Cubs. Baltimore may end up trying to keep him or another team could offer more than the Cubs are willing to.

Expect to hear the Cubs and Machado connected in trade rumors leading up to the trade deadline. Epstein has been extremely aggressive over the last couple of years at the trade deadline and that isn’t likely to change this year.